OVTCHAROV celebrated his first ever victory in singles at National Closed Championships held this weekend in Wetzlar. In the final European Champion overcame Timo BOLL and denied him of record breaking 10th title.ย โThis is an overwhelming feeling.
OVTCHAROV celebrated his first ever victory in singles at National Closed Championships held this weekend in Wetzlar. In the final European Champion overcame Timo BOLL and denied him of record breaking 10th title.ย โThis is an overwhelming feeling. It was real fun to play here โ said OVTCHAROV.
On Sunday he finally made brake through. In 2007 2011 and 2012 he had lost in the singlesโ final.ย His opponent in this yearโs final Timo BOLL is still waiting for his 10th title which would put him as the only player on top of the national list of table tennis victories. At the moment he shares this position with Eberhard SCHรLER Konrad FREUNDORFER and Nicole STRUSE who all won 9 singles titles. โTo lose in a final is always a pity. But to lose to a good buddy makes it bearable โ BOLL said.
OVTCHAROV plays in his life form.ย โAgainst Timo I have to play at a very high level only then I have a chance. I am super happy that I have now won this title after I celebrated so many great achievements since 2012. A national Champions title just has to be included in a playerโs vita.โ
SHAN Xiaona successfully defended her singles title at the German Championships. In the final which was followed by more than 3 000 spectators in the sold-out Rittal Arena Wetzlar she defeated her national team colleague HAN Ying in 6 games. It was hard work. In the 5th gameย at 9-7ย for HAN the Expedite System had to be introduced. โIt was the first Expedite System game of my life. I never thought this would happen to me because I play actually quite good against defense โ said SHAN.
This unfamiliar situation confused her at the beginning. In addition Han successfully proofed her offensive qualities. โThe Expedite System is after all a small disadvantage for me โ said the number 18 in the world ranking HAN Ying. โFor the attacker it is always easier.โ
Anyway HAN Ying was not too sad in the end. โOf course I would rather have won. Iโve enjoyed playing here. The spectators were great. It was a fantastic atmosphere in Wetzlar. It was a lot of fun and that I reached the final outweighs the joy.โ
Through the title 31-year-old SHAN Xiaona gets a boost for her self-confidence she stated. โIโve lost too early at the latest World Tour tournaments and thereby lost some points in the Worlds ranking. Now itโs hopefully going up again. I hope that I can continue and play well at the German Open.โ
Tonight she can celebrate 2 titles. Just before the singles event she had already won the doubles partnering her buddy Kristin SILBEREISEN. Lars HIELSCHER/Bastian STEGER won the menโs doubles event. It was their 4th national title pairing each other.
Womenโs Doubles Semi-final:ย SHAN/SILBEREISEN โ BOLLMEIER/KRรMER 4:2 (6 4 -9 6 -10 5) ย SOLJA/WINTER โ BARTHEL/MรHLBACH ย 4:1 (8 8 4 -13 10).ย Final:ย SOLJA/WINTER โ SHAN/SILBEREISEN 2:4 (7 -9 9 -9 -8 -4)
Menโs Singles Semi-final:ย Dimitrij OVTCHAROV โ Ruwen FILUS 4:1 (-5 4 8 3 6) ย Timo BOLL โ Patrick FRANZISKA 4:0 (8 8 5 7).ย Final:ย BOLL โ OVTCHAROV 1:4 (-8 -4 9 -7 -10)
Womenโs Singles Semi-final:ย HAN Ying โ Nina MITTELHAM 4:0 (11 6 6 8) ย SHAN Xiaona โ Irene IVANCAN 4:1 (3 9 -8 4 7).ย Final:ย SHAN Xiaona โ HAN Ying 4:2 (6 10 10 -9 -15 7)
Menโs Doubles Semi-final:ย HIELSCHER/STEGER โ CHRIST/WEHKING 4:2 (10 4 -8 8 -8 9) ย DUDA/MENGEL โ MOHR/SCHEJA 4:1 (-9 7 5 7 9).ย Final:ย HIELSCHER/STEGER โ DUDA/MENGEL 4:1 (10 11 9 -10 5)
